Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 973 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $2,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RSG. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Republic Services in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in Republic Services by 351.6% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 140 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Republic Services during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Republic Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Republic Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on RSG. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Republic Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $211.00 to $238.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Republic Services from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $219.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Republic Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $219.00 to $237.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Republic Services from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Republic Services from $219.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Republic Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Brian M. Delghiaccio sold 5,071 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.02, for a total transaction of $1,065,011.42. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,326,906.36. This represents a 44.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Katharine Weymouth sold 1,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.27, for a total transaction of $400,186.93. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $189,222.33. This trade represents a 67.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Republic Services Stock Up 0.9 %

Republic Services stock opened at $213.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.22, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $209.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.29. Republic Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $165.99 and a twelve month high of $220.58.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $4.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Republic Services had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 18.18%. The business’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Republic Services Company Profile

Republic Services, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers environmental services in the United States and Canada. It is involved in the collection and processing of recyclable, solid waste, and industrial waste materials; transportation and disposal of non-hazardous and hazardous waste streams; and other environmental solutions.